ROCKY HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP REVIEW: “It’s not about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” “Rocky Balboa” stars Sylvester Stallone (Cliffhanger, The Expendables), Burt Young (Once Upon a Time in America, Go Go Tales), Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes, Pathology), Antonio Tarver, Geraldine Hughes (Gran Torino, Duplex), Tony Burton (The Shining, Knockout), and James Francis Kelly III (The Next Three Days, Circle). It is written and directed by Sylvester Stallone. In this final film of the “Rocky” franchise, as well as the final Heavyweight Championship Review, we fast forward thirty years after the first fight with Apollo Creed. A lot of happened since the fifth movie, with Rocky being long retired and making a living by running a restaurant created by his wife Adrian. There are still people who know his legacy, but Rocky has long left people’s television screens and now he has become a has-been, with only people’s memories to keep him still known. Meanwhile, there is a new heavyweight champion who hasn’t lost a fight: Mason “The Line” Dixon. Even though he is the champion, people hate him because there seems to be no one he fights that is good enough to beat him. Mason’s managers are always trying to find a way to make money and they soon find the jackpot after seeing a sports broadcast. Apparently, they have made a computer-generated fight, pitting Mason against Rocky to see who will win. Once the computer chooses Rocky as victor, the whole world is curious, wanting Rocky to come back into the ring and see if the computer is right. Rocky takes this as a ticket back into the world, and a chance to prove that he still has what it takes.

There’s no school like the old school. And this movie capitalizes on that. This “Rocky” movie didn’t get good ratings because of a good fight or how we see Rocky after so many years to know that he still has fight in him. It got good ratings because it reaches back to the original movie, giving you a ride full of inspiration and reflection. The story of this was really good, bringing the modern world to Rocky’s doorstep as we see a glimpse into how Rocky is handling everything after the events from the last movies, plus new additions that were taken place after the fifth movie. The characters were great in this and even though I didn’t see Adrian and Rocky physically together onscreen like always, they showed a great relationship with Rocky and his son as well as showing Adrian live on in Rocky. The acting was done well, and Stallone gave an accurate description of the world we live in today with the background street people who are in the movie. I liked the sense of modernism in this film and it was pulled off in a good fashion. The only con that I would say about this movie is that it can get slow in dialogue in patches more so in the beginning and middle. I was also bummed how Adrian wasn’t in the film seeing how her and Rocky’s relationship was one of the key factors in the franchise, but the void isn’t really left empty with Rocky’s remembrance. In the end, this felt like a good old-fashioned “Rocky” movie and was way more inspirational than the last three movies. There are several lines to pick from in this that can keep you going in life and it was a fantastic ending to a great franchise (that is, until “Creed” comes out…. I hope it is just a spin-off). FINAL SCORE: 90%= Juicy Popcorn

Here is the trailer: